UNIVERSITIES SHOULD BALANCE NATIONAL AGENDAS AND ACADEMIC DEVELOPMENT

KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 5 (Bernama) -- The roles of universities have
changedtremendously over the years as more and more national universities were established with the aim of fulfilling national agendas, the Crown Prince of northern Perak state, Raja Dr Nazrin Shah, said Wednesday.

However, he said the universities should be smart in achieving a balance between
the need to fulfill the national agendas and the need to ensure academic
advancement.

"It is only right for government-funded universities to fulfill the
country's vision and development agendas.

"However, there should be a smart approach to strike a balance between the need
to fulfill the agendas and the need to ensure that the university would not be
left out in the development of knowledge and academic cultures," he said at the
University of Malaya's 49th convocation, here Wednesday.

Raja Nazrin, who is also the UM pro-chancellor, said a university, deemed as an
academic village, had the autonomy to ensure continuous development of knowledge
and academic culture which were based on facts, data and truth.

"A university is traditionally known as a centre where discussions, forums and
criticisms are made in a democratic way and issues are discussed objectively
without prejudice or bias because every opinion was based on facts, data and the
truth," he added.
--BERNAMA